Are cat or dog bites worse?

Both cats and dogs are responsible for biting incidents that put people in the hospital every year. But which one is worse?

It really depends on the situation. Dogs do attack more often, causing 70 percent of bite injuries, compared to just 17 percent for cats. This means that people tend to fear dog bites a bit more just since they are more common.

They also worry about dog bites because dogs have larger, more powerful jaws. Their bites tend to look worse to the untrained eye. They are also more likely to be fatal. A lot of fatalities happen when dogs attack children, just because the children are shorter and more vulnerable. A powerful dog may weigh more than the person it is attacking.

However, there is one key way in which cat bites can actually be worse. Cats tend to have sharper, longer teeth. Bites may not appear as bad on the surface, but those teeth can go far deeper than a dog’s. The small holes may also mean they bleed less, which in turn means that the wound does not get washed out as well. Bacteria can get down into the person’s tissue and the bite has a greater chance of getting infected.

That’s not to say dog bites cannot get infected, but it is generally easier to clean the wound. It may hurt more initially, but it also may heal far better over time.

No matter what type of animal bite you suffer from, you could end up facing serious medical bills. Be sure you know how to seek financial compensation for an animal attack if that attack occurred through another person’s negligence.